RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has claimed that former President Pranab Mukherjee had praised the Ghar Wapsi programme during his tenure, stating that if it hadn’t been for the Sangh’s reconversion efforts, a section of Adivasis would have turned “anti-national.”
Bhagwat shared this at an event in Indore on Monday, where he presented the ‘National Devi Ahilya Award’ to VHP leader Champat Rai, who also serves as the general secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
During his address, Bhagwat recounted a meeting with Mukherjee: “Dr. Pranab Kumar Mukherjee Rashtrapati the. Tab main pehli baar unse milne gaya. Sansad mein Ghar Wapsi ko lekar bahut bada halla chal raha tha. Main taiyar ho ke gaya bahut poochhenge, bahut batana padega. Lekin unhone kaha ki kya aap logon ne kuch logon ko wapas laya to press conference… aisa kaise karte ho aap? Aisa karne se ho halla hota hai. Kyunki wo politics hai. Main bhi aaj agar Congress party mein hota, Rashtrapati nahi hota, to main bhi Sansad mein yehi karta. Fir unhone kaha, lekin aap logon ne ye jo kaam kiya hai uske kaaran Bharat ka tees pratishat Adivasi… Is line pe aa gaye dikh hi raha tha unke tone se to humko bada aanand laga… maine kaha Christian ban jaata… bole Christian nahi, deshdrohi ban jaata. Aisa unhone kaha. (When Dr. Pranab Mukherjee was the President, I had gone to meet him for the first time. There was ruckus in Parliament over the issue of Ghar Wapsi then. I thought I would have to answer quite a few questions and so went prepared. But he said you brought back some people and (then held) a press conference. What are you people doing? This creates controversy. Because this is politics. Had I been in the Congress, not holding the President’s post, even I would be protesting in Parliament. Then he said but this work that you have done, because of that 30% tribals… I understood the line he was taking and I was happy… I said, — would have become Christian? He said not Christian, but anti-national. This is what he said).”
Expanding on this, Bhagwat explained that conversion leads people away from their roots. “Conversion andar se aata hai to koi baat nahi. Hamari dharana hai ki sab tareeke (of prayers) sahi hain. Ek hi jagah pahunchayenge. Sabko apna tareeka chunne ka haq hai. Lekin agar lok laalach, zabardasti se hota hai, to uska uddeshya adhyatmik unnati nahi hota, jadon se katkar apna prabhav badhana hota hai (If conversion comes through an internal calling, it is fine. We believe all forms of prayers are right. But if conversion is achieved through allurement or through force then its real aim is not spiritual enlightenment but increasing influence through uprooting),” he said.
Mukherjee’s participation in an RSS event in Nagpur in 2018 had garnered significant attention, making Bhagwat’s comments notable. This is especially important as such views were not typically associated with Mukherjee during his time in Congress, even though some local party leaders in tribal areas had supported delisting converted tribals in the past.
The conversion of tribals to Christianity has long been a focal point for the Sangh Parivar, which has campaigned against it through organizations such as Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram. For years, Sangh-affiliated groups have been actively working in tribal regions to deprive converted tribals of reservation benefits.
Sangh sources indicated that Bhagwat’s remarks were in the context of realizing India’s “swa (self),” rooted in the legacies of Lord Ram, Krishna, and Shiva. Bhagwat also referenced Mukherjee’s belief that secularism should not be imposed on India, as it was already an integral part of the nation’s 5,000-year-old civilization. This civilizational history, Bhagwat argued, flowed from figures like Lord Ram, Krishna, and Shiva.
Bhagwat’s statement is consistent with the Sangh’s ongoing campaign against the conversion of tribals, especially at a time when the Opposition is focusing on issues like caste census and tribal rights in preparation for the upcoming elections.